


Fell into your infinity

by Tayani



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, As In A Corpse Is Described, Drama, Established Relationship, Ghost/Demons, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, It's Not Explicit But It Is Implied It Happened In The Past, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Magical Realism, Mild Gore, Mystery, Please Read Author's Note Before Reading Though, Romance, This Is Very Hard To Tag Without Spoiling The Story, read it it's good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29920935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tayani/pseuds/Tayani
Summary: "Your heart swallowed me like a well and I will never be able to climb out. I fell. I fell into your infinity. And my inability to free myself will doom your life."- Emalynne Wilder, Infinite DollsRen brings the friends he made during his travels back home to meet his lover.All is not as it seems.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru
Comments: 48
Kudos: 145





	Fell into your infinity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kimonoforlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimonoforlove/gifts).



> First of all - an explanation of tags.
> 
> I have chosen not to include any set warnings in order to keep the story suspenseful. Whether or not Major Character Death happens and who - if anyone - dies, is a plotpoint in this story. If you'd rather not risk it at all - **this story might not be for you**.
> 
> This story has been written for Kimonoforlove, who requested a story inspired by a Thai movie "Pee Mak". Thank you SO MUCH for this it's been AMAZING to write and work with you on it.

It all started on one hot, July evening.

Of course, one could argue the whole affair started a lot earlier.

This was the trouble with beginnings. Generally, they liked to multiply. Like in this case.

Because something started when, driven by heartbreak and desperation, young Kurusu Akira swore he’ll be with the one he loved no matter what, in this life and any other. Something started years before even that, when a young boy decided it was a fine idea to steal apples from his rich neighbour’s orchard.

Each story has many beginnings, and the discovery of one surely precedes the discovery of others.

But for the look of the thing, let us assume this story starts on one hot, July evening.

Akechi Goro was working in a garden.

It was a beautiful garden which was fitting, because Goro was quite a beautiful man. Currently, with his long hair gathered in a ponytail and an expression of concentration on his face, he was trimming roses.

It was perhaps a little too hot for any work in the garden, but it didn’t seem to be bothering him too much. Being a lonely man, he made the rhythm of the day what he wanted it to be, and on this day, Goro had planned to trim his roses. They were growing quite out of control lately - no matter how he tried to tame them, they insisted on coiling and spreading into a jungle of thorns and beautiful, sweet-scented flowers.

Goro often complained - whenever he had company - about their unruly behaviour. Thankfully, the only company he ever had knew perfectly well he was only complaining to keep up appearances. Goro loved his roses, in all their untameable glory, just as he loved the huge, gorgeous garden which separated the traditional Japanese house he lived in from the rest of the world. During the long months he spent alone here, work in his garden was what kept him occupied and - dare he say - even happy. And now that Obon was nearing and the one he loved, the one he was happy to share the rest of the year with was finally coming home, Goro wanted to make sure everything looked the best it possibly could.

It wasn’t that Akira would mind it particularly, Goro knew. His lover always rejoiced in coming home after his travels, and as long as said home included Goro in it, he wouldn’t complain. Still, Goro wouldn’t be caught dead welcoming his beloved to anything less than the perfect household. His pride wouldn’t have been able to take it.

Finally deeming the roses to look as polished as possible, Goro hoisted himself back up onto his feet, groaning quietly when his joints protested the sudden movement. He gathered his equipment, cleaned it and put it neatly back in a little shed Akira built for him the last time he’d been home. It was there that he suddenly felt it.

Goro and Akira had been together for years. Goro would never admit he counted them - counted the days, even. Every year, Akira would spend some months with Goro in their beautiful little house - sometimes it was just about half a year, sometimes a lot more. And every year, when it was time for Akira to come home, Goro would feel it, an itch deep within his bones.

It didn’t matter how far his lover was, what mode of transport he was using or who he was with. If he was going to come home by the time the day was over, Goro would feel it and be there to welcome him.

Allowing a smile to bloom on his lips, Goro entered the house and headed for the bathroom. Their home was clean, their pantry filled; everything was perfect and waiting for his lover to arrive. All that remained was to wash up and dress and soon Akira will be back here with him.

Goro smiled and undressed quickly, jumping into the shower stall.

Finally. The rainy season was over, Obon was coming and soon, he’ll have Akira all to himself again. Nothing could ruin his mood now.

* * *

“Is it still far, RenRen?”

Ryuuji’s voice was a long whine, let out somewhere in between huge gulps of a sports drink. Ren looked back at him and laughed, hitching the enormous backpack to make it lay more comfortably over his shoulders.

“Just over that hill,” he said. Makoto looked up towards it and sighed.

“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t let me get us a taxi,” Haru said, walking beside her girlfriend. Makoto insisted on carrying most of their luggage, and so Haru’s step was visibly more springy than hers. Behind them, Sumire and Yusuke walked together, Sumire holding Yusuke’s elbow in a sort of resigned grip. He’d been looking around and admiring the view so much ever since they left the train station they had to pull him out of a ditch twice. After that, Sumire volunteered to keep him at least walking in a straight line.

“I, for one, appreciate the opportunity to admire the view at our leisure,” the artist said now, stopping - again - to stare at the distant hills.

“I agree!” Sumire said, obviously trying a bit too hard to sound cheerful. “If senpai recommended it, I don’t mind. Besides,” she continued, in a much more sincere voice. “It’s a good workout, and the air here is so nice! I know Tokyo isn’t  _ bad  _ as far as big cities go, but you can really tell we’re in the countryside now.”

Makoto sighed again.

“I agree in principle, but all the same, I wouldn’t mind appreciating the view and the air while  _ not  _ carrying all of this, Sumi.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ren laughed, slowing down a bit so that he could walk beside them. “It’s like I told you - Goro isn’t very fond of strangers coming up to the house. A few taxis stopping by would have spooked him. I never take a taxi when I come home, either.”

“Are you  _ sure  _ it’s a good idea to have us over, then?” Makoto asked, yelping and almost falling over right afterwards when, without warning, Haru started to push at her backpack to help her carry it uphill. 

“Haru!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mako-chan!”

They all laughed. Ren looked around at his friends, his smile turning smaller, but filled with unmistakable fondness.

It had been about six months since he’d last been home. On his latest journey, his travels took him to Tokyo. There he met Ryuuji and Ann, and then Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Sumire and so many others. Even though they’ve known each other for just a few short months, they became close, much closer than simple acquaintances. Ren had always found it easy to make friends, but the group he met in Tokyo this year was special.

For the first time during his life with Goro, he felt like he found his home away from home.

Like he found a family.

Admittedly, their group went through a lot together, which normal group of friends probably wouldn’t have done. When Ren met Ann and Ryuuji, for example, they were struggling against a perverted coach trying to blackmail Ann into sex by leveraging her girlfriend’s career against her. Yusuke, when Ren met him for the first time, was struggling to raise against his adopted father who exploited him for his art. Makoto was stuck on a case against a drug lord she couldn’t touch, Futaba was a shut-in, Haru was trying to escape from an abusive shithead her father wanted her to marry and Sumire was in so much denial over her sister’s recent death she didn’t even acknowledge her own existence.

In small ways, by a strange string of events that was either incredibly good luck or just fate, Ren managed to help all of them. Now that his time to come home grew near, he invited all of his newfound family to come with him. Not forever, of course; not even for the half a year he knew he ought to spend with his lover. But for a little while.

Not all of them could come, of course - Ann had her career and Futaba still wasn’t good with other people and  _ very much  _ not good with the countryside. Still, most of them agreed to tag along for a while and Ren, personally, was ecstatic.

“Man, that house better be as nice as you tell us it is, for all the goddamn mountains we have to cross to get there,” Ryuuji groaned. Ren laughed and nudged him in the ribs, almost making the blond fall over with a yelp.

“It’s great here, promise,” he said, beaming. “Goro says it used to belong to his grandparents, and it was kind of derelict when we got it, but since then it’s gotten really nice. We fixed it all and, you know, it just has this really nice vibe of an old Japanese house. And the garden! Goro can’t leave the house too much, so we made the garden big and gorgeous for him to busy himself with.”

“Oh, I’d love to see it!” Haru exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. “I didn’t know your lover is a fellow gardener, Ren-kun!”

“Oh,” Ren blinked as if suddenly taken aback. “Um… I mean, I’m sure he’d love to show you, just… he’s kind of private about this stuff, so… well, anyway, I’ll talk to him and we’ll see if I can make him give you a tour,” he said and Haru beamed.

“Right, you never told us much about your boyfriend, Ren,” Makoto hummed, looking at him with a smile. “Why is it he doesn’t leave the house much? I don’t think you ever said…”

“What do you mean he never told us much about the guy?” Ryuuji gaped, almost falling over again when he looked back at Makoto. “The man never shuts up about what Goro would love and how Goro says this about that and whatever, I never even seen the guy and I’m kind of over him, honestly.”

“Hey, I don’t talk about him  _ that  _ much…” Ren pouted. Haru and Sumire shared a look and then they both giggled.

“Oh,  _ Ren _ …” Haru chuckled into her hand. Makoto shook her head.

“Didn’t you ask Yusuke if you could commission him to draw a portrait of the two of you so you could keep it in a locket?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“That’s not weird! I have a talented friend, I want to support him,” Ren protested.

“For the record,” Yusuke added, coming out of his absent-minded appreciation of the view around them. “I’m still very much happy to do that for you.”

“Senpai, you literally can’t go a day without at least texting your boyfriend. Remember when we went to Dome Town together and your phone fell out from the roller coaster car because you tried to type while we were on the ride?”

“That’s still normal! And anyway, Futaba’s even worse at it-”

“Dude, if your argument for not being addicted to typing is comparing yourself to Futaba, then you’ve  _ got  _ a problem.”

They all laughed again - Ren with a deep blush on his cheeks. They were past the most strenuous part of their walk. Once they finally reached the peak and left the town behind them, they came into the sight of the house. It was beautiful, nestled in the valley spreading out in front of them. For a moment, all of them stopped and looked at the sight in awe.

“Man, it looks so nice here! I’m so going on a run down that river there!” Ryuuji exclaimed. Haru clapped her hands in delight and Sumire cooed at how cute the little cottage looked. Even Makoto stopped and smiled at the view and Yusuke didn’t say anything - he fell on his knee and started to rummage madly in his pack, trying to find a sketchbook and a pencil.

Ren stood there with them, with a sort of distant, slightly misty-eyed expression on his face. Makoto was the first one to notice it. Still smiling, she nudged him and pointed down at the little house with her chin.

“Go on, then,” she said. “Run, say hello. I’m sure he’s waiting for you. We’ll be right behind.”

Ren grinned back at her; he didn’t even say anything, he just smiled and then ran, his feet kicking up small clouds of dust on his way down the hill. The rest of the group laughed and followed at a much slower pace. From their high vantage point, they could see a slim figure clad in an off-white yukata leave the house and move at speed to the gate, ready to welcome Ren. They saw the two of them collide; saw Ren’s backpack dropping onto the ground as he caught his running lover and picked him up, twirling him around. They saw their laughing faces, saw kisses and then lips moving fast as the two talked.

Haru rested her hand on Makoto’s arm and smiled at her girlfriend.

“You know,” she said, “I was a little worried if Ren-kun’s boyfriend would appreciate having us all here, but… they seem really in love, don’t they? He must be a good person if Ren-kun loves him this much.” 

“I’m sure it will be alright,” Makoto answered with a smile, looking back down at the duo by the gate. Ren’s lover, Goro, was standing on his own feet again. They were still close, holding hands now, but they were not smiling anymore. The group was still too far to hear the words being said, but to Makoto, it almost seemed like they were arguing. Then, Goro looked over Ren’s arm at the approaching group and, with a deeply displeased look, turned on his heel and disappeared back into the house, leaving Ren there to gather his backpack again and follow him.

Makoto smiled uncertainly.

It… it  _ will  _ be alright, won’t it..?

* * *

“So… um… is your boyfriend going to join us, Ren-kun?” 

It was some time later.

The rest of the group eventually caught up to Ren, who waited for them by the gate. He managed to weasel his way out of any questions, showing them around the house and to their rooms. For a while, they were too busy unpacking, taking showers and changing into more comfortable clothes to worry about the pointed lack of their friends’ lover anywhere. Now, seated by the low table in the living room with glasses of iced barley tea in hands, they could finally ask their questions.

“Look, I’m… I’m sorry,” Ren said with a sigh. “I thought… I didn’t think through some things, and… I don’t want you to think any less of him, it’s just, Goro isn’t used to strangers, and I think he got a bit… a bit  _ overwhelmed _ , and…”

“Didn’t he know we were coming?” Ryuuji frowned, tilting his head to the side. Ren pursed his lips and then looked down at the floor. Haru gasped; Makoto let out a groan. Sumire covered her mouth with her hand.

“Senpai… you  _ did  _ tell him we were coming, didn’t you?”

Ren didn’t reply - and that alone was answer enough. Makoto groaned again and pinched her brow.

“No wonder he got mad! Ren, seriously… You can’t just-”

“I wanted it to be a surprise!” Ren burst out, cutting her off. “I didn’t think- Well, he’s sitting here for god knows how long, all alone, and every time I come back home he loves to hear about the people I meet! I thought… You guys are so important to me, I wanted you to meet him! And… I just… I really…”

Ren’s voice became smaller and smaller, until it finally turned into silence. The rest of the group shared a look - all except for Yusuke, who was still looking around the room and sipping on his barley tea. Sumire was the first one to sigh and stand up, dusting herself off.

“Is it alright if I go and talk to Goro-kun, senpai?” she asked. “Even if just through the closed door… I think he’s owed an apology, and I would like to give one.”

“Um… that’s…” Ren started, looking uncertain. “He’s probably in the garden… I wouldn’t-”

“Oh, then I’ll go! I’d love to see it, and as a fellow gardener, I’m sure we’ll be able to understand each other,” Haru beamed, standing up as well. Ren looked even more uncomfortable.

“No, no, see, it’s just, the garden is, uh… It’s kind of…”

“It’s off-limits to you.”

The voice was cold and sharp like an icicle. The whole group turned. They didn’t hear the door slide open and then close, but it had to. After all, a man stood in there now, still in his off-white yukata, his slim figure tall and commanding.

He was a young, handsome man, somewhere around Ren’s age. His features were chiselled and sharp; beautiful but cold, as if made of marble. His skin was pale and his eyes were a deep, rusty brown that almost seemed red in a certain light. Right now, he was standing tense, with his arms crossed over his chest, and looked down at the whole group, his thin lips twisted in a frown.

“You’re not allowed in the back garden,” the man, Goro, repeated. “As for an apology, I don’t need one from you. If my idiot of a boyfriend invited you here, it can’t be helped. It’s his house as well as mine, and I don’t have the right to demand you leave. But I am not happy to have strangers here, and I don’t care what you have to say to me. Don’t expect me to participate in whatever you came here to do.”

With that, he turned on his heel, slid the door open and then slammed them shut behind himself. It all happened so suddenly, they barely had a chance to react at all. For a moment after Goro left, they all sat there with their mouths open. Finally, Ren broke the silence by standing up and walking towards the door, face bright red with embarrassment.

“He’ll come around,” he mumbled back at his friends before disappearing behind the sliding door. The rest of the group shared a look.

Somehow, none of them - not even Yusuke - thought what Ren said was at all likely to happen.

“What should we do?” Sumire asked, her voice hesitant. Ryuuji rubbed the back of his neck.

“I mean… Can you blame the man for being kinda cranky? I say, let’s go for a walk, give the two of them some time to talk shit out… maybe he really will come around. I mean… RenRen kept going on and on about how awesome his boyfriend is, right? He can’t be this big of a jerk.”

* * *

“This guy is such a raging  _ asshole _ !”

The whole group was sitting in a small izakaya down in the town. It was late afternoon, and while they knew they still had to make a long trek up the hill back home, somehow, no one was ready to leave yet.

Ren wasn’t with them this time. After a few days spent in his house, having to endure the awkwardness and tension, all of his friends decided they needed some time off where they could talk in peace. They told Ren they wanted to sightsee the little town and were off - and frankly, it was a  _ huge  _ relief.

Now, with a beer or a drink each, they could finally let go of some of the grudges held.

“Seriously, I have to wonder why Ren even entered a relationship with someone like  _ that _ ,” Makoto grumbled into her gin and tonic. “I mean… Ren is such a sweet person, right? You’d think his life partner would be someone equally nice. But this guy is just...”

“I  _ know, _ ” Sumire sighed, stirring her cherry cocktail before taking a sip. “I’ve never seen senpai as much as frown at anyone before, and Goro-kun is just…”

“You know what that jerk did yesterday?” Makoto scowled, reaching over to take Haru’s hand. “He yelled at Haru! Yelled at her! For trying to take a look at the stupid rose bush in the side garden!” 

“He  _ did  _ ask us not to go there, so it  _ was  _ partially my fault, Mako-chan…” Haru mumbled, though she did seem uncomfortable at the memory. Ryuuji waved his glass of beer around.

“No reason to raise his voice at a girl. I swear, if I was there I’d have clocked him.”

“He’s so possessive, too, it’s honestly hard to stomach,” Makoto continued, shaking her head. Ryuuji downed half of his beer in one gulp and groaned.

“Man, don’t even get me started on  _ that _ . Swear to god, if I have to see that asshole drape himself over RenRen and start sucking on his neck in front of us one more time I’m going to barf.”

“Um…” Sumire turned red at the memory, but then cleared her throat and continued. “Don’t… don’t you think maybe that’s the reason why Ren-kun is with such a person in the first place?”

“Huh?” Ryuuji stared at her. Haru frowned in thought as she sipped on her coffee liqueur. 

“Do you mean Ren-kun might appreciate a person who’s possessive and unabashed in showing their jealousy, Sumi-chan?” she asked. Sumire turned even redder, but shook her head.

“No… I mean… Senpai, he… he’s got a  _ thing  _ for saving others, doesn’t he? And… And Goro-kun seems like a very unpleasant person, maybe even someone who’s… well, you know…  _ troubled _ . I can imagine senpai wants to… to  _ fix _ …”

“I am personally uncomfortable making these kinds of judgments,” Yusuke said steadily. Sumire pursed her lips and looked into her drink, falling silent. The artist sighed, looking around the table at his friends.

“I admit Goro’s behaviour towards us left something to be desired at first, however… Firstly, we cannot overlook the fact that it was not his decision to invite us to his home. Secondly, I find myself quite charmed. Just yesterday he had been kind enough to show me some ukiyo-e his family had purchased over the years and all through our discussion about them he was nothing but pleasant.”

“I mean, yeah, he showed you art so of course you like him.” Ryuuji rolled his eyes.

“Yusuke, I understand your point, I do…” Makoto sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “But that doesn’t change the fact he’s an awful host for the rest of us. Even if we’re unexpected guests, it’s just...”

“Even just for senpai’s sake, I feel like Goro-kun could at least try,” Sumire nodded in agreement. Yusuke shrugged, looking into his drink.

“I simply suggest we try and put ourselves in his shoes,” he said. “Ren had explained this is a man who doesn’t leave the house, hardly ever meets other people. From what we know, Ren is the only person dear to him. And suddenly, after months of being apart, he has to share this one person with several strangers. As I said, I don’t excuse his actions. I simply do not fault him for them. And also as I said, recently he’s been nothing but perfectly pleasant to  _ me _ .”

“You do have a point, Yusuke-kun,” Haru nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. “He did only yell at me when, honestly… I deserved that. Still…”

“He’s still a raging asshole, no matter what his reasons are. And I, for one, didn’t notice this miraculous transformation into a nice guy Yusuke’s talking about.” Ryuuji gulped down the rest of his beer. “Eh. Come on, guys, that’s enough of our whining for one day. Let’s work on getting back, yeah?”

“I’m almost tempted to find out if there aren’t any rooms for rent here in town, instead,” Makoto said, downing the rest of her gin as well. “Even thinking about a walk up that hill again is awful.”

“I could order us taxis?” Haru smiled, linking arms with her girlfriend as they all stood up, ready to go. “I’m sure Goro-kun won’t object any more than he does already, and it  _ is  _ almost night. Sun will start setting in no time.”

“You’re a hero, Haru!” Ryuuji said and, laughing and in much better moods, they stumbled out of the izakaya.

The town near which Goro and Ren lived was a small one, but they still found two taxis which were more than happy to take them - only there, the group of friends encountered their first real problem since they came to this quiet town. Upon giving the drivers’ their destination, they were immediately met with confusion from one and open suspicion from the other.

“Why would you want to drive up to that old place?” one of the drivers asked. “No one goes  _ there _ .”

“But-” Makoto started, only to be interrupted by the other driver - an older gentleman, his hair dusted grey.

“If you came here to dig up old souvenirs and mementoes from that house, please, don’t. It might have been a long time ago, and it might sound a thrilling tale to youngsters like you, but us here in town are still extremely saddened by it. Years pass and more and more people want to get up to the house, pull it apart, look for thrills…”

“Old man, sorry, but what are you talking about?” Ryuuji finally said, frowning in puzzlement. The man stared at him in surprise.

“Well, the old, ruined house over the hill you wanted us to drive you to,” he said. “What is it you mean to do there if not dig up that same old tragedy?”

“What tragedy?” Sumire asked, tilting her head. The man frowned at them. He clearly couldn’t decide if they were joking or not. Makoto stepped closer to help her out.

“I apologize for the questioning, but… Could you tell us what happened back then? If we promise we won’t go up there and search through things… You see, we are, um… we are working on a project for a school newspaper, so...” she said. The taxi driver seemed to feel this might just have been bullshit, but he answered anyway.

“Well… Alright. That house over the hill used to belong to the Shido family, see. Of course, no one lived there since the old miss and master died, their son having built himself a new mansion downtown. Well… Ten years ago, he died. A real tragedy, that - fell off a cliff, him and his young son. Barely eighteen, that poor boy was. I’ve seen his body with my own two eyes, I was an emergency service driver back then. Head all bruised and cut open, you could see his skull from how badly he’d been torn up.”

He sighed.

“Such a good lad, he was, too,” he continued. “That father of his, no one really cared for - he was famous in the big city, some politician he styled himself as, but you know how it is… sometimes us little town folk just know one’s a wrong’un. But that son of his was a good lad, always had a kind word for you. And then they both died, just like that, in one day. A big affair it was, too. Press came from all over, sensed some scandal, I don’t know. The mansion got sold off and pulled apart, but I heard somewhere the boy’s will was that the old house should be left as it is, so we here in town left it alone. And while we welcome visitors here… you ought to leave it as it is, too.”

For a little while, no one said anything. And then, Makoto asked, her voice only slightly trembling.

“That… um… That son of the Shido man, the one who died… what was his name?”

“Don’t you kids know?” The taxi driver frowned at them. “Akechi, his name was, as his father and mother had never married properly.”

The old man nodded to himself and leaned back on his seat, clearly deciding the talk was over.

“Goro Akechi,” he said, in a sad tone. “He’d be twenty-eight now, that boy. My god, how time flies.”

* * *

“Oh, you are being  _ ridiculous _ ,” Makoto snapped.

They were climbing up the hill. After the talk with the taxi driver, it was clear the crew couldn’t count on anyone giving them a ride - and anyway, they needed some time to mull about the implications of what the man had told them.

At first, it seemed plain enough. The man had to be talking about some other Goro. The alcohol and the setting sun made them all believe this was some ghost story for a moment, and that was it. 

And then, Sumire said in her usual, quiet voice:

“But… if you start thinking about it, it would sort of make sense, wouldn’t it?”

After all, she reasoned, it wasn’t like any of them ever seen Goro take a bite of food. Every time they had dinner together, Ren made excuses for Goro, saying he didn’t have an appetite or ate ahead of them. Then Ryuuji mentioned how pale Goro looked - he commented on it a few times during their stay, mentioning how it was weird Goro spent his life in a garden and yet was white as a bowl of rice. Haru agreed, pointing out that though the house didn’t seem to have air conditioning installed in any room apart from the living one, it was always pleasantly cool, despite the summer heat.

By the time they reached the top of the hill, they had started to convince themselves what the taxi driver had told them was true. And if Goro really was some ghost or a spectre…

“Do you… I mean,” Sumire said, gulping at the thought. “Do you think senpai knows…?”

“Oh  _ come on _ ,” Makoto huffed, but Ryuuji interrupted her.

“Of course he doesn’t know! You only need to listen to RenRen gush about his perfect boyfriend to know something’s fishy going on. I mean, we called it way before!”

“What, you mean… Ren-kun is under some sort of a curse?” Haru said, eyes growing wide. 

“He has to be,” Ryuuji nodded, waving his phone into their faces. “Look, I googled all about this kind of stuff. There’s all sorts of stories. Like, see, this one? The peony lantern one? So this guy came back home and this chick was there waiting for him, and only those other guys who visited him once saw she was a skeleton! So he was… y’know… smoochin’ a corpse this whole time.”

“Ew.” Haru made a face.

“Not  _ just  _ smoochin’, if you wanna know the details,” Ryuuji continued, so Makoto slapped her hand over his face.

“I think we’ve heard enough, thank you. Look… I don’t want to make any judgments until we somehow make sure of it. I mean… This  _ can’t  _ be true. These things just don’t exist!”

“Even if they do exist, I don’t see why you are all treating it as so much of a problem,” Yusuke said evenly. Everyone, even Makoto, gave him an exasperated look.

“Yusuke-kun…” Haru sighed. “If Ren-kun is being taken advantage of by an evil spirit…”

“We do not know if that is the situation,” Yusuke bristled.

“Dude, our friend is possibly, y’know… doing the do with a ghost. You can’t tell me  _ that’s  _ right,” Ryuuji deadpanned. Yusuke turned towards him, head high up.

“I find it rather beautiful,” he said. “A love so strong it transcends death… a feeling so deep it disregards the outer shell, however foul… One can just imagine-”

“Oh, just leave him alone,” Makoto groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I suppose Yusuke-senpai does see things differently,” Sumire giggled, though it came back perhaps a bit more high-pitched than she’d like. Haru smiled weakly in response.

“The question is… if we assume it  _ is  _ true, and Goro-kun is… well, an evil spirit, possessing Ren-kun in some way… what do we do?”

“I’d… well. Maybe we should just try and… you know. Talk to them?” Sumire proposed. Ryuuji snorted.

“Yeah, good luck getting one of the lovebirds by themselves. They’re always hanging off one another!”

“Now you mention it, they do… it’s almost like Goro-kun is afraid to leave us to talk freely,” Sumire frowned. Haru hummed thoughtfully.

“Do the stories you found mention some ways to break a spell of this kind, Ryuuji?” 

“Well… I mean, most of ‘em’s just like. The guy notices he’s been, uh, y’know, with a skeleton and stuff, and he kinda… nopes out.”

Ryuuji rubbed the back of his neck, lips twisting in a bit of a grimace.

“Honestly, I don’t blame the dude. Like, imagine, opening your eyes and you see… y’know. When you’re kissing a girl. I’d probably puke.”

“Not  _ necessarily  _ the outcome we’re looking for, but I guess it would make Goro get away if Ren puked in his mouth,” Makoto said, in a somewhat high-pitched voice. It seemed like she still couldn’t quite get over the fact they were really discussing this.

“So… we should make senpai see what Goro-kun really is?” Sumire asked. Haru nodded at her.

“The real problem is,  _ how  _ we do it,” she said. Ryuuji shrugged.

“I mean, we can just come up and go  _ hey dude, so your lover boy’s a rottin’ corpse, yeah? _ and leave it at that.”

“Oh, Ryuuji…” Makoto sighed. Sumire had to stuff her hand in her mouth to stop herself from giggling.

“The problem is, if Ren-kun is really under a spell, he might react badly to that,” Haru said. “He’s already very… protective about his boyfriend. I have never known Ren-kun to be this…” she trailed off. Makoto nodded, frowning.

“I know what you mean,” she said. “When you went to the garden and I was mad at the asshole for shouting at you, Ren actually took his boyfriend’s side, didn’t he? Even though he was  _ definitely  _ in the wrong. I never thought he’d immediately go  _ oh but you shouldn’t have gone there, Haru _ , it was… so out of character.”

“So we gotta either separate them, or…” Ryuuji frowned, obviously thinking hard.

“Or… somehow say it in a way that wouldn’t… I mean, not directly?” Sumire proposed.

“I would just like you to know,” Yusuke said, voice serious. “That I will not participate in any of this.”

“As long as you don’t blow our cover, man, be my guest,” Ryuuji mumbled, kicking at some stone. “Once it’s all over you can tell RenRen you were happy to leave him cursed cause it suited your  _ aesthetics _ .”

By then, they had passed the hill. In the few last rays of sunset, the house laying on the other side looked a truly gorgeous place. For a moment, the thought that this is a lair of an evil spirit possessing their friend seemed impossible. The little house, the flowers and the lush, beautiful garden surrounding it; it looked like out of a picture book.

As they neared the gate, they saw a figure walking around the clotheslines set in front of the house. Goro was alone there, two big baskets of freshly-dried laundry slowly filling up as he gathered it up for the night.

“Man, wait, I’ll help ya!” Ryuuji was the first one to call, breaking into a run. “Dude, you didn’t have to do all that by yourself, it’s mostly our things-”

“I’m fine-” Goro started, obviously surprised by the blond’s sudden appearance. He reached for one of the baskets; Ryuuji did, too. From where they stood, the rest of the group couldn’t see exactly what happened, but the next moment, Ryuuji gave a small shout and jumped away, as if he had been burnt.

Makoto was the first one to run up to the two of them.

“What happened?” she said, looking accusingly at Goro, who stood, one of his hands pulled tight against his chest. Ryuuji was staring at him, eyes so wide they looked like they’d pop out of his skull any second now.

From inside the house, Ren’s head peered out, looking curiously at the group on the front porch.

“Oh, hey, you’re back,” he said, and then frowned at their faces. “What’s all the shouting about?”

“...it’s nothing,” Goro said, a bit more forcefully than necessary. He tugged the last piece of laundry off the clothesline and dumped it into the basket, picking it up and carrying it inside, past his confused lover. Ren looked questioningly at Ryuuji, but the blond just shook his head. Shrugging, Ren disappeared into the house.

“...so I touched the guy’s hand, by accident,” Ryuuji said, once the rest of the group came close enough to hear him. “And his skin is  _ freezing _ . Like it legit shocked me, it’s like plunging your hand into an ice bucket.”

Makoto gulped.

“So then…”

“So then it’s true,” Ryuuji grunted, picking up the second laundry basket. “And we gotta somehow deal with it, for RenRen’s sake.”

* * *

The dinner was a tense affair.

Makoto was the one who probably reacted the worst to their suspicions being confirmed. Perhaps it was because she hated ghosts so much, but she seemed to take Goro’s true nature as a personal insult. Throughout the meal, she kept offering him different foods, with a passive-aggressive mockery that made even Ren stare at her in confusion. And while there were some feeble attempts at conversation made, by the end of it, no one tried to force themselves to talk anymore.

So, when the dinner ended and the dishes had been cleared up, it was with genuine surprise they heard Sumire clap her hands and propose they have a game of charades.

“Char-” Goro started, clearly in disbelief that such a  _ stupid  _ idea would have been proposed. Still, one sharp look from Ren made him shut up immediately. Instead, he took a deep breath and forced a… well, at least half-genuine smile.

“I mean… I’d be happy to join, if you’d have me,” he said and carefully picked a seat in between Ren and Yusuke, who smiled at him. Ren beamed, pulling his boyfriend into a one-armed hug.

“I’m down, too!”

They started with silly things. Haru made an admirable impression of a squirrel; Ryuuji got them to cheer for his tiger. Yusuke portrayed what seemed to be all sorts of famous sculptures before - once they all gave up - explaining that he tried to portray that epitome of all beauty and elegant form, a lobster. Even Goro had laughed after that - and seeing him there, almost bent in half with laughter while Yusuke looked in confusion at what everyone found so funny, made more than one of the group question their suspicions.

But then Sumire’s turn came, and with a slight hesitation, she stuck her hands in front of her and started making an  _ oooOOOOooo  _ noise.

“Oh, I know that one! A ghost!” Ryuuji exclaimed, laughing and clapping his hands.

It was subtle. If someone wasn’t looking for it,  _ expecting  _ it, even, they wouldn’t have been able to feel it. But the moment Ryuuji said that, there was a slight drop of temperature; as if a gust of icy wind swished through the room. And Makoto, who just understood what Sumire’s idea was all about, turned to quickly look at Goro.

He was a good actor, that had to be said - but she could have sworn that just for a moment there, she could see his eyes narrow and his frame tense. The arm he had wrapped around Ren seemed to be pulling his boyfriend tighter to himself, too.

_ Ah _ , Makoto thought, feeling her fists clench.  _ So that’s how it is. _

She stood up, her tone sickly-sweet as she turned to Ryuuji with a smile.

“You’ve gone once already, Ryuuji, can I have a turn?” she asked. Before Ryuuji could even answer, she was already in the middle of the room, rubbing her chin in thought, her eyes narrowed.

“I think that’s Goro-kun,” Yusuke volunteered, which granted him death glares from  _ both  _ Goro and Makoto, and laughter from the rest of the group.

“I haven’t started yet! And… alright, here I go.”

Makoto started with some degree of hesitation. She put her hands to the sides of her head, leaving only her pointer fingers out. Ryuuji screwed his face up in thought; Sumire and Haru were watching her thoughtfully.

“Something with horns?” Ren asked, and beamed when Makoto nodded. She then made a valiant attempt at a typical grimace from an  _ oni  _ mask, and - once that didn’t do it - started to walk around the middle of the room, trying to replicate the Oni Kenbai dance - or at least an approximation of it.

The room felt much colder now, and they all fell silent. Finally, after a few seconds of this, Goro stood up.

“I’m going to bed,” he said. Ren looked up at him, frowning.

“ _ Come on _ ,” he said, in a voice that seemed to scream a  _ we talked about this _ . “At least try to take part in the game.”

“ _ Fine _ ,” Goro snarled, looking back up at Makoto. And then, he smiled - a sharp, cruel smile.

“I think it’s a  _ cow _ .”

Haru stood up, her lips pressed together.

“Well, I’d invite you to show us all a better interpretation of an evil demon - but I guess all you’d have to do is  _ stand there _ !” she snapped.

Goro really was pale - Ryuuji was right about that. But at this remark, he didn’t just turn pale - he turned  _ white _ , so much so that the faint pink of his lips looked blue, like a bruise. For a moment, no one dared to move or even breathe; and then, Goro turned on his heel and went out of the room, slamming the door shut behind himself. Makoto huffed.

“ _ Good _ . And now, Ren, we really-”

“You need to go.”

Ren was a very quiet person. This was the first thing people noticed about him. He never spoke much, his movements were graceful and elegant, and he never made much of a fuss.

And no one, ever, heard Ren raise his voice at anyone else.

Now, he wasn’t shouting - but his voice was so strained and serious, he might as well be. The room went completely silent and they all looked at him.

Slowly, Ren stood up and looked at each of them in turn, and all the protests, all the explanations they had on the tips of their tongues wilted away.

“I won’t ask you to leave into the night,” he said, in the same, serious voice. “But tomorrow morning, I want you gone.”

“Ren, but-”

“Dude, that’s stupid, you can’t-”

“I’m sorry,” Ren said, cutting off their protests. “This is largely my fault, for inviting you here in the first place. But now, you have to leave.”

He turned back and went out through the same door Goro disappeared behind. In the sudden, stunned silence, Makoto looked back at the rest of the group.

“Do you think… Um…” she started. Yusuke sighed, standing up from his seat.

“I hope you are happy,” he said. “We ought to pack our things and prepare to leave first thing in the morning, like Ren asked us to.”

“But… dude, we can’t just… just  _ abandon _ …” Ryuuji gestured vaguely towards the closed door. Makoto shook her head, lips pressed into a thin line.

“Oh, we’re not abandoning anyone. But we  _ do  _ have to regroup. There’s some research that needs to be done, too,” she said, glaring at the closed door.

“I haven’t had my last word on this. Just you wait - we’ll help Ren see reason, no matter what.”

* * *

Goro had always enjoyed the early hours right after sunrise.

Even before he and Akira had moved to this little house, he’d usually wake up early enough to enjoy it - the brisk chill of the air, the first rays of the sun warming his skin. These days, he’d try to sneak out and work in the garden during those hours, enjoying the sight of flowers opening for the day and the steady rise in temperature as the sun started to warm the air and the proper, summer heat began.

That day, his morning had been interrupted by an unfamiliar noise, however. From the entrance to his and Akira’s house, a group of people tumbled out, yawning and whining about having to wake up so early.

Hidden behind his rose bushes, Goro watched them go. It wasn’t until they disappeared behind the hilltop he came back inside and, washing the dirt off his hands, snuck into his still-warm bed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

“...your friends just left,” he hummed, pressing a kiss to Akira’s forehead. The raven mumbled something sleepily and nuzzled into him, making Goro let out a startled laugh. For a long moment, he allowed his boyfriend to snuggle with him, running his fingers tenderly through Akira’s hair. It was longer than Goro remembered it.

“Maybe I should give you a haircut,” he hummed. Another delighted purr from his boyfriend followed, and Goro smiled, kissing him again.

“Oh, was that it? You’d allowed it to grow out through all your travels just so that I’d cut it for you?”

“Always the detective,” Akira mumbled, stretching on the bed and letting out a long yawn. Goro smiled at him, enjoying how flushed and warm with sleep he was. Then, his face turned serious.

“Akira… about your friends, I really-”

“Oh, can you  _ not  _ spoil the morning?” Akira groaned, falling back onto the bed and staring into the ceiling. Goro frowned.

“Well, I simply think we need to discuss it. I have stated before that you are too-”

“Aren’t you happy with me?”

Akira rolled on the bed so that he was facing his lover, his best puppy-eyes impression in place. Goro sighed and reached out, dipping his fingers again into Akira’s unruly hair.

“You know that’s not it,” he said. Akira closed his eyes.

“All I want is to make you happy.”

“I know, love,” Goro said quietly, leaning in for another kiss. “And you  _ are  _ doing a good job. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

* * *

The day went on quietly. For the first time since Akira returned home, Goro had him all to himself, and he was taking shameless advantage of that. They tidied up, cooked, worked in the garden; all of it together, never more than an inch away from each other’s side. When the evening came and Akira announced he’s taking his lover out for a date, Goro didn’t even have it in him to complain. A mobile funfair was supposed to open today in town as an addition to the upcoming festival. For once, Goro allowed himself to be convinced that perhaps joining the crowd in the merriment wouldn’t be too terrible.

They dressed up in their nice yukatas and festival Feathermen masks Akira brought as a gift for Goro from one of his travels. The evening was perfect for a walk - warm, not too humid, the cicadas chirping merrily all around them. The air was rich with the wonderful scents of the earth giving out heat, of plants and flowers. Goro loved the little place he and his lover claimed as their own at any time, but like this, in the middle of summer, with just him, Akira and the starry sky over their heads -  _ this  _ he liked best.

“We could just go for a walk like this,” Goro hummed, squeezing Akira’s hand in his. His lover smiled at him from under his mask and poked his forehead.

“We  _ are _ . But I know you’ve been dying to go for a carnival ride since last year.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Goro huffed, but if his quickened pace was any indication, he was more than on board with the idea. Hurrying to keep up with his boyfriend, Akira laughed. For just a little while, all his troubles forgotten, he’s allowed himself to be  _ happy _ .

“Come on,” he said, squeezing Goro’s hand back. “I’ll get us caramel apples and you can win me a teddy bear at the shooting game. It will be  _ perfect _ .”

* * *

“Okay, they’re going to be coming this way in a moment. Is everyone in position?”

For the group of friends who left Goro and Ren’s home that morning, it was a very different day.

They had dropped Yusuke off in a nearby hotel where they found rooms for the time being - he wouldn’t have joined them in their plans anyway. At this point, they were convinced something strange was going on, and they weren’t going to risk him disrupting them. While the artist slept, Makoto and Haru went to the nearby temple for consultation and research, while Sumire and Ryuuji doubled back to observe the house their friend was in, making sure Goro didn’t try anything  _ sinister  _ while they were away.

The day, which for Goro and Ren seemed so perfect, felt terrible for the rest of the group. The air was hot and the sun burnt their skin. Ryuuji and Sumire got quickly frustrated with not being able to see anything and Makoto and Haru had to try and get the monks at the temple to help them instead of treating them like bothersome outsiders. But, as the day wore off and the evening came, their struggles gave results. The monks at the temple, at first so uncooperative, told Haru and Makoto a great deal about subduing demons. They were even given some holy objects for their  _ ‘project’ _ \- a collar that was supposed to contain a demon and a wooden stake. Makoto had to promise she would give them back the next day, but after that they were allowed to go.

Slowly, a plan began to develop in their heads. Once they met up for dinner, tired but determined, it all really started to click together.

Goro and Ren were coming to town tonight - that information Sumire volunteered even before their espionage efforts started. Ren had told her he was going to take Goro out for a date today and seeing as a mobile funfair was opening just then, it didn’t take a genius to figure out  _ where  _ they would be going.

What their course of action would be from then on was the question.

Yusuke had joined them by then, and though he was continuously critical about their plans, the rest of the group convinced him to at least not interfere. In exchange, they promised that if their plan won’t work, they’d leave Goro and Ren alone. Hesitantly and clearly unhappy with taking part in this, Yusuke was now stationed between two colourful tents of the funfair, in a secluded spot they were trying to lure Ren and Goro to. Sumire and Haru stayed with him, both trying to either convince or comfort him. From their hiding place, they could observe the crowd of people milling about the carnival.

“I hate this plan,” Yusuke commented, for the hundredth time that evening. Sumire sighed.

“We know. But we have to go through with it, for senpai’s sake!”

“I personally do not see it like this,” the artist huffed. “If it was for Ren’s sake, you’d have asked  _ him  _ if he needed any help before imposing yourselves on their happiness. Look at them!” he waved his hand towards the far-end of the carnival they could observe through the gap. Two distinct figures stood by one of the stalls, laughing as they tried to catch a goldfish to win a prize. Haru wrapped her arms around herself.

“They  _ do  _ look happy…” she said, uncertainty ringing in her voice. Sumire shook her head.

“But that’s just because senpai is forced to behave like this! All we need to do is make him see, just like Ryuuji-senpai said. Then he can decide for himself. Doesn’t he at least deserve that?”

To that, neither Haru nor Yusuke had the reply. Again, they stood in silence. Then, Sumire’s hand came up, clutching on Yusuke’s arm.

“They’re doing it!”

Before them, in the middle of the carnival, there was a commotion. Two people - Ren and Goro - were just standing by the shooting game. Goro was momentarily distracted; he had the fake rifle in his hands, aiming at the mechanical ducks moving rapidly inside the stall. Ren was standing beside him, laughing and cheering - up until, suddenly, two figures leapt out of the crowd and grabbed him, each by one arm, and just as quickly as they appeared they were gone, running with their prey towards the gap between the tents. Ren didn’t even manage to scream out by the time they had him safely away from prying eyes, holding him tight as he tried to break free, looking around. His eyes widened as he recognized them.

“Guys..? What the hell-”

From all the way back at the carnival, they could hear Goro’s distressed scream once he realized Ren had gone. Their captive’s eyes widened and he fought viciously in their grip, trying to break free.

“Let me go! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Sorry, RenRen, but it’s for your own good, man,” Ryuuji said seriously, tightening his grip on Ren’s arms, so that Makoto - who was the second abductor - could let go. She was panting, pale but very determined.

“You have the collar, Sumire?” she said curtly while Ren fought to break free.

“Right here!”

“Let me go!” Ren yelled. Yusuke turned away, his fists clenched. Haru looked like she was about to cry. From the carnival, Goro must have heard Ren’s scream through the mill of the crowd, because he was marching towards them. Makoto and Sumire hid behind the tents on either side of the gap he was heading towards, expressions grim. Ren’s eyes widened - he tried to call out again, but Haru covered his lips with her hand, mumbling apologies.

“I should have known- what the  _ fuck  _ do you think you’re doing, you miserable,  _ awful  _ group of-”

What they were a group of, the team never learnt. Before Goro could finish, ripping his way angrily towards them through the tents, Makoto and Sumire jumped him from behind, one holding his arms back, the other quickly clasping something that looked like an old, metal collar around his neck. For a second, nothing happened, and then the metal sizzled and vibrated and Goro fell to his knees, shrieking in pain and clawing at his neck.

Not even Ryuuji was able to hold Ren back this time; the raven shook his friend off and leapt, trying to get to his boyfriend. He collided with Makoto and Sumire, running to cut him off, and pushed them to the ground, wildly trying to reach Goro-

And then, suddenly, he stopped dead.

Where a moment ago was a handsome young man, now stood something different entirely. Still hunched on his knees, still clutching at the sizzling, obviously painful metal collar biting deeply into his neck, there was a thing of nightmare.

None of the group knew what a ten-years-old corpse would look like, but this was a good approximation. Goro’s pale skin turned greenish-grey, broken off with sores and oozing puss. Part of his hair fell out completely; the rest was matted and thick with grime and dirt. On the left side of his head, there was no hair at all - just a deep, oozing gash showing off the yellowed bone of the skull.

The apparition stilled with the rest of them, slowly looking up with its sunken, filmy eyes. Ren was staring at it in shock; behind him, his friends gasped and cried out in terror. And then, the creature spoke.

“Akira…”

A shudder ran through Ren’s body. Suddenly, Goro shrieked, his face twisting into a grimace - of pain or of hatred, it was hard to say. He lunged forward, but Makoto pulled Ren away at the last moment, and the sudden movement obviously made the collar sting more, because the corpse once again fell to the ground, howling in frustration.

“Why are you looking at me like this?!” he shrieked, tears - if they were tears - starting to ooze from the filmy eyes, running down the creature’s cracked, rotten cheeks. “Why?!  _ Why?!  _ Why are you letting them do this to me?!”

Ren didn’t respond, still in shock. Behind him, Ryuuji cursed loudly. Makoto’s hands were shaking. Even Yusuke was staring in horror from over their shoulders. Goro’s eyes ran over their faces and he howled again, making another leap for Ren, once again unsuccessful.

“Get away, you fucking  _ demon _ !” Ryuuji yelled, shielding Sumire and Haru with outstretched arms. “Now RenRen can see you as you are, you have no power over him anymore!”

“R-Right!” Sumire yelled, too, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “We’re with him now! You’ll need to find yourself another victim!”

Goro’s shriek this time was so horrible they all turned completely white. It was pure agony, tinted with rage and something even deeper, even more animalistic than that. Once again, the creature looked up, reaching its slimy, rotten arms out towards Ren.

“Akira…” he sobbed out again and then screamed in anger when nothing came out of Ren’s open mouth. “Was this your plan?! To leave me, to use this bunch of fools to take you away from me?! How could you do this?! I should have known- I should have seen this coming!” Goro let out a long, pitiful wail, and it was no longer possible to tell if he was furious or sobbing.

“I should have known that, from the start! I should have let you die, keep you with me! Rather than let you go like this!”

“Oh, no you don’t, you fucking-” Ryuuji jumped out from their cluster, wielding in hand another thing Makoto and Haru managed to get from the temple - a wooden stake, ornate and engraved with strange symbols. He swung the thing in a wide arch, aiming right between the apparition’s dead eyes-

_ Drip, drip, drip _ .

It happened too fast for anyone to realize what was going on. All of a sudden, Ren wasn’t in the middle of their group anymore. He threw himself in front of his lover, grabbing the stake at the last moment, managing to stop it just in time for the sharp point to draw blood from his chest, but not impale him. Ryuuji immediately let go of the stake, moving away with another exclamation. The stake clattered to the ground, its point red with Ren’s blood.

It was Makoto who first noticed that it, too, was sizzling angrily in contact with the holy object.

Ren stood still, his breathing hard and laboured. They looked at him; for all of them, it was like seeing their friend for the first time. He looked… changed, though not even fractionally as much as Goro did. No, Ren was very clearly still alive - but barely so. His once-fresh cheeks were pallid and sunken; his eyes shone like in a fever. His hair lost its usual untamed energy and his skin turned greyish and waxy.

Slowly, he moved one hand up and looked it over, letting out a low hum.

“Ah… so it’s still not better,” he said, as if to himself. In the sudden silence, they could all hear it, though - as well as the ragged, barely-controlled sobs coming from behind what they considered their friend. Ren looked up; when he spoke again, his tone was very gentle.

“You should have known, my love,” he said, with his back still towards Goro. “That if you wished for me to join you, all you had to do was ask. I’d take the same knife I used before and do the good deed myself.”

He turned around. Goro was still there, still on his knees, staring up at him. Ren smiled softly and knelt down, on level with his boyfriend.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was in shock; I never expected… It’s been ten years since I’ve seen you as you once were. I’m sorry I put you in danger, my love. I’m sorry I made you think I wanted to leave.”

“But-” Sumire started, but Yusuke hushed her. Slowly, with all the gentleness in the world, Ren raised his hands and cupped Goro’s rotten cheeks.

“You thought this would be enough to tear me away from you?” Ren said, sighing when Goro looked away, unable to look him in the eyes. The raven leaned in - and to the shock and disgust of at least some of the group, he pressed a kiss to the corpse’s forehead.

“I love you the way you are, Goro,” he said. “The outer shell doesn’t matter. I’ve fallen in love with more than just your beauty, and years have done nothing to change it.”

“You’re insane,” Goro sobbed out, his voice small and soft, wrecked with tears. Ren smiled at him.

“Maybe,” he said. “But so are you, for giving up so much, just for me to live.”

With careful hands, Ren reached behind his lover and unclasped the collar, throwing it away. He didn’t spare even one look at his friends - instead, he pulled the Featherman mask that fell off in the struggle gently back on Goro’s face and took him in his arms, picking him up bridal style. It was just as he was about to leave that he paused, turning his head a little to the side.

“I hope you’re satisfied now,” he said, obviously struggling to sound calm. “I… want to believe your intentions were good. But I don’t want to see you again. Ever, preferably.” 

No one replied. All five people in the group simply stared, at a complete loss for words. Ren turned back away from them and leaned down, presumably to kiss the top of Goro’s head.

“Let’s go home.”

* * *

Once again, it was sunset, and Goro was gathering laundry from the clotheslines in front of the house.

He was looking better - well, when one starts off as a ten-years-old corpse, any change at all would probably be for the better. Still, he was looking alive again. His skin was still sickly-grey and waxy and his eyes rather sunken, but there was no ooze, no puss, no bared bone or rotting flesh out for all to see.

All that remained from the encounter at the funfair a few days ago was a circle of inflamed, blistering skin around his neck.  _ That  _ would take weeks to completely go away - if it ever truly will.

From the front gate, there was a sound of knocking. Goro looked up, wincing when the sudden motion disturbed his neck. Slowly, he set down the laundry basket and went to see who it was at the gate.

Makoto stood there alone, her head bowed and body tense, as if she expected to be punched the moment the gate opened. To his credit, Goro didn’t immediately slam it into her face. Instead, he leaned back, arms crossed over his chest.

“What do you want?” he said with open suspicion in his voice. Makoto went scarlet.

“Goro-kun… I… or rather, we… Look, it’s fine if you don’t want us here. You have all the right. I’ll leave if you want me to but I just… the others thought we shouldn’t bother you again, but I  _ had to  _ apologize, and Yusuke, and Haru, and Sumire, even Ryuuji… they all came with me, but I just… it was largely my fault, I made us all go through with this stupid plan, and I…” she stopped, biting her lip. To Goro’s genuine shock, she looked like she was about to cry.

“I’m… I’m really sorry,” she whispered. “The others are, too, and if you let them, they’ll come here and apologize directly, too. We… we’re really-”

Goro sighed. For a moment, he looked somewhere past Makoto, into the void; and then, he moved to the side, opening the gate wider.

“You better come in, then,” he said.

* * *

It was, once again, a very tense atmosphere in the living room.

Goro had not said a word after his invitation for them to come in. By the way he looked at them, it was clear that what little trust they might have earned before was now completely gone. The group entered after him and were now all seated in the familiar room, with a tray of iced barley tea on the low table. In the far end of the room, Goro and Ren sat, the former snuggled up against the latter’s chest. Ren was holding his lover tightly against himself - it was clear he, too, wasn’t exactly pleased with his friends.

It was extremely awkward and more than one person from those present wondered if it was a good idea to come here.

They stumbled through their apologies, one after the other. There were no excuses - they had discussed the situation over and over again for the last few days, and they all understood just how wrong they were to interfere in a situation they were not privy to. Through the apologies and explanations, Goro clung more and more to his boyfriend; both of them remained silent, though. Only once - when Makoto explained how Yusuke tried to stop them and believed they were in the wrong the whole time - did Goro become a bit less tense. He even managed a small smile at the artist, who reciprocated. 

Once the last person was done, Ren let out a long sigh and Goro reached for his hand, squeezing it tightly.

“I suppose… we have something to tell them, too, Akira,” he said. Ren hung his head and grimaced before looking up at his friends.

“...I need to apologize, too,” he said.

“We both do,” Goro nodded, his voice quiet and calm. “I, for behaving quite rudely towards you from the start, which I imagine did nothing to dissuade your suspicions about me…”

“And I for inviting you here without… well. Explaining the whole thing.”

This raised some protests; surely, neither Goro nor Ren had anything to apologize for. Those were met with more protests from both sides; until finally, the tension was broken. The air became a bit easier to breathe. Ryuuji took a glass of tea and sipped on it happily, and soon the rest of the group followed his example.

The hardest part was over. And now…

“What I suppose I should start with,” Ren said, leaning back on his seat and pulling Goro close, so that he could lay comfortably against his chest. “Is that the name you know me by is a false one. My real name is…  _ was _ … Kurusu Akira.”

“So that’s why Goro-kun called you that,” Haru hummed. Ren- or rather, Akira nodded.

“Me and Goro… we go back a long time,” he said and smiled to the side at his boyfriend. Goro hummed, starting to play with Akira’s hair. 

“We met for the first time when I saw him stealing apples from my father’s orchard,” Goro smiled at the recollection. “I was… oh, fifteen, perhaps? Living locked away from the world in my father’s modern new home, not allowed to meet or talk to anyone  _ he  _ didn’t approve of. So one summer day, I was sitting in my room, bored out of my mind, and I happened to glance out of the window, and there he was - plain as day, stealing apples.”

“Literally the first thing he’s ever said to me was  _ the tree on the left is a more expensive kind, take those _ ,” Akira giggled. A few other people laughed, too. Goro smiled fondly and continued.

“See, hardly anyone knew my father had a son. I was illegitimate, forced onto him by my mother, and then kept after she died so as not to create a scandal. My father hated me, and I hated him even more. He loved the thought of controlling every single aspect of my life, so… After I met Akira for the first time, it was like finally being able to live on my own. To make this one thing something only I could control.”

“On my side, I just saw a cute boy my age and decided I liked making him smile,” Akira said. “I’d stop by almost every day - sneak in, climb the big tree growing by Goro’s window and talk to him for hours. We never ran out of topics to talk about. During the rainy season, when I couldn’t really sit on the tree for too long, we’d swap letters. I even got him a burner phone so we could text while I was in class.”

“It didn’t take long before we fell in love,” Goro smiled, squeezing Akira’s hand. “I mean… who wouldn’t have? And we were young and foolish. We started to sneak out, both of us; we’d go on walks, on actual dates. Wandering around town was too dangerous, so we’d hike all the nearby forests and hills. This house, the one we are in now, used to belong to my grandparents. After their death, it fell into disrepair. We’d hide out here, fix little things we knew how to fix. We’d spend whole nights there, knowing it was a safe place. And we’d dream and make plans…”

“Goro’s eighteen birthday was coming up, see,” Akira said. “His father had to start letting him out more and more often. Of course, we still kept our relationship the greatest secret - we knew the douchebag would try to separate us if he knew. But Goro was about to finally move out - go to Tokyo, to college, where Shido’s grasp couldn’t be as tight around him as it was here in our hometown. I was going to transfer to a high school I found there, just to be with him. We were finally going to be free…”

Akira trailed off. His expression turned grim. Goro sighed, leaning up to kiss his lover’s cheek.

“And then…” he said, once the silence became too long to bear. “Ten years ago… well. We were stupid. Too excited for our own good. And we were caught, kissing in one of our favourite spots just outside the mansion’s gates, right by a cliff. We used to hike the trail running down it in our younger years, looking for thrills… Now, we were being pushed to the edge of it, and my father was yelling at us and screaming how he’s going to disown me. Akira, he… he tried to protect me. Shido was never very… he enjoyed punishing me, often in a rather brutal way. When he swung back to hit me, Akira tried to push him away. We started to scuffle; Shido pushed Akira towards the edge of the cliff, screaming about how he’s going to get rid of the problem here and there.”

Goro’s hands curled up into fists. He took a long breath and spoke again.

“And then… I tried to push Shido away, pull Akira back from the edge. I don’t know what really happened; whether I tripped, whether my useless father realized he was falling and decided to take at least one of us with him. Either way… I was falling, and all I remember next was pain, and Akira’s scream ringing in my ears.”

Akira looked away, lips pressed tightly together. A heavy silence fell over the group once more; no one dared to speak. Finally, voice shaking, Akira looked up and continued the story, eyes glistening with tears. 

“It was horrible,” he said. “Shido was pronounced dead at the scene, but Goro… he fought so hard. He lost half his scalp, he broke almost every bone in his body, but he still tried so hard to stay alive… and… and no one  _ knew _ . I wanted to be there with him, be at the hospital, tell him to fight, to keep fighting, but they wouldn’t let me. No one knew what he was to me. No one understood I just lost my entire world.” 

Akira’s voice broke and he had to stop and compose himself before continuing.

“I slept in the waiting room of the hospital, as close as they let me come. I was the first one to learn he died, on the morning of the third day. And I just… I don’t know. I heard them talking, everyone was so sad, saying what a tragedy it was… and then someone said that… that they were going to bury them together.”

Akira stopped again. This time, when he continued to talk, his voice was hard as steel.

“I knew I couldn’t let that happen. My world was gone, I had nothing to live for anymore - so what did I care? I was not going to let that piece of shit be buried next to the one I loved. So… I gained access to the morgue, nevermind how, and I stole him away. Carried him all the way out of town, in the middle of the night, right here, to this house, where I knew he’d be happier. And… and then…”

Goro reached out his hand, caressing his lover’s cheek. Akira let out a shuddering breath and stood up, walking towards the sliding door that always, up until now, remained closed. He turned to look at his friends and continued.

“I took a shovel and dug a grave, big enough for two. I picked some flowers - Goro always loved flowers - and I laid him in them, and then laid next to him myself. I left the shovel next to the pile of dirt, hoping that, maybe, you know… someone will come looking for us and see and…  _ understand _ , I guess. And I took a knife and pressed the tip right where my heart was, hoping it was quick and didn’t hurt too much. But before I could do it…”

Akira smiled and slid open the door. Behind it was the most gorgeous of gardens; luscious rose bushes and whole carpets of flowers and silky-green grass spread out before them. And there, right in front of the door, was a rectangle of black in the midst of all the colour. A grave, just like Akira had said - big enough for two, carefully maintained, with an old, rusty shovel next to it and an old, rusty knife laying inside.

Once again, Akira turned to look at his friends.

“Before I could do it, Goro’s dead hand shot up and grabbed my wrist,” he said. “He was cold, cold as ice; they had already sown his mouth shut, so he couldn’t speak. But he woke up. Came back to life, just so that I could live.” 

They were all speechless. Makoto sat with her hand pressed over her mouth, eyes full of tears. Haru and Sumire were actually crying. Yusuke sat with his mouth open and Ryuuji mumbled a silent curse or two. Akira let out a breath and went back to sit with his lover.

“We stayed out here, after that,” Goro said, welcoming Akira back in his arms. “We fixed the house. Because Shido died first and I had left a will asking for this house to be left alone, no one bothered us here. Akira changed his name, just to make sure our secret won’t be discovered, but the strange thing was… no one really seemed to notice he went missing in the first place. As far as I know, no one commented on my body being gone, either.”

“We never found out what the hell happened,” Akira added, closing his eyes and snuggling up to his boyfriend. “Not that we were really looking for an explanation. I was afraid that if we asked too many questions, this - whatever it was - stopped working. I already lost Goro once - I was not prepared to lose him again.” 

“After some time, though, I insisted Akira should leave - for a while, at least,” Goro smiled, threading his fingers through his lover’s hair. “I came back to life for him to live, not rot away in a dump. He didn’t want to, at first. Finally, we agreed he’d spend a few months each year away from home, travelling, meeting new people. The rest, we’d spend together.”

“So…” Sumire said, her voice very small. “We had it all backwards. You… You weren’t keeping senpai with you - you were actually trying to get him to live without you, at least for a bit…”

“But then… Why’s RenRen- uh, sorry, Akira… Why’re you all… Y’know.”

Ryuuji went red under their stares and started again, waving his arms wildly in the air.

“I mean, when you touched the thing, you went all… thin and pale and kinda sickly-looking…”

“I didn’t know he’d look like that, myself,” Goro frowned, pinching Akira’s cheek. “My idiot boyfriend failed to inform me that while it’s impossible for me to move too far away from my grave,  _ he  _ can travel as far as he wants, but the farther he goes, the bigger toil it has on his body.”

Akira shrugged and got pinched again.

“Ouch! Hey!” he huffed and caught Goro’s hand in his own. “I guess… some part of me died that night, ten years ago. When I tried to kill myself to be with him. So… A part of me also stays in that grave. That’s the best explanation I can give you.” 

“Oh… so… by trying to pull you away, we… we actually were about to hurt you,” Makoto mumbled. For a moment, Akira looked at her - and then he smiled.

“You didn’t know,” he said quietly. Makoto looked up and somehow, though they both knew it wasn’t as simple as that, that it would  _ never  _ be as simple as that - it was going to be okay.

“Man, but, really,” Ryuuji said, linking his hands behind his neck. “We came here with our new, living buddy, about to meet his cool boyfriend… we thought we ended up with some evil possession spirit situation and turns out, neither of you is like,  _ entirely  _ alive to begin with. That’s some crazy shit.”

“A love so powerful it transcends the grave,” Yusuke nodded, a very self-satisfied smile on his face. “I told you before this whole sordid affair came about, that this was what it was.”

The artist looked up at his friends.

“And I think it is beautiful.”


End file.
